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Forum:Holding the Line
General Topic Discussion Are we going to also put up the UBW fighters from the Holding the Line story arc they are very well thaought out seeming designs. What do you think sir you can message me back either here or on facebook Doc Wade (talk) 19:37, July 3 2014 (UTC) *I wouldn't object to generating materials from the Aces Club. Big problem I have with any of that stuff at this point is finding it; a lot of the old sites have got some serious site rot going on these days. If you could point me to some specific sites, that'd be extremely helpful (and if you could point me out to the stats for TCS Fenris, that'd be pretty freakin' awesome...). Capi3101 (talk) 21:25, July 3, 2014 (UTC) **I should clarify: I've been looking for the Fenris stats for quite some time; she was my introduction to the Aces back in the day, and had as much to do with how WCRPG got started as anything else. I'm willing to do anything you can point me to, though. TCS Orion would also be pretty cool to do, IMHO. Capi3101 (talk) 21:27, July 3, 2014 (UTC) *The website for HTL is htl.solsector.net. If you google battle group Valkyrie wing commander Doc Wade (talk) 01:11, July 6, 2014‎ (UTC) **Alright. Looks like the Google link gets the more specific information there. I'm seeing three non-canon UBW craft on the first link, the Intruder, Jaguar and Retaliator. Capship-wise there's the Arcadia and Nemesis that are obviously new; the others appear to be canon-craft with different names. Those five the only ones you would like to see, or are there others? Capi3101 (talk) 13:13, July 7, 2014 (UTC) *The Dauntless bomber is nice too. I was reading up on it do you happen to know if on refueling rates if you have the ramscoop do you add the ten per hour to size class or how does that all work as the carriers are supposed to produce more fuel than they us to refuel fighters. Doc Wade (talk) 20:05, July 9, 2014 (UTC) **The ramscoop only gives a craft the ability to try and regain some fuel while it's still in flight; it's generally assumed that it's refueled aboard its mother craft once it lands as part of the pre-flight for its next hop. In other words, it's assumed that a carrier stores a supply of aviation fuel that is completel seperate from its own fuel supply. By the same token, ordnance earmarked for a carrier's fighter wing is generally considered seperate from the carrier's own ordnance, though I did explictly state otherwise one time (in Vespus) in order to increase the tension in that campaign. In any case, a spacecraft equipped with a ramscoop may refuel its tanks in flight at a rate of ten fuel points per hour, per ramscoop installed.Capi3101 (talk) 16:31, July 17, 2014 (UTC) **I'll have to read up on the Dauntless; I've missed that one somehow. Capi3101 (talk) 16:31, July 17, 2014 (UTC) *There was one in the story line it was called the marauder nice looking ship havent found any stats on it but basically a lance fighter without the fission cannons, A/M reactor other than that I think its the same as the dragon trying to find it in the story to give a better description. Also what did you think on the idea of having your bombers cloaked behind the enemy carrier then decloak to launch adn recloak to run classic hit and run tactics but the only way to do it is lock on before decloaking then it would ake three rounds to decloak,launch,recloak and run for home but it would be extremely effective my brother and i have been working on a battlestar like vessel that can build fighters aboard. If a ship can build fighters aboard do you see an issue with modifying fighters underway as well Doc Wade (talk) 20:05, July 9, 2014 (UTC) **I'll need stats on the Marauder in order to replicate it as its designer intended. That said, there's nothing wrong with a complete homebrew. Some of the stuff I've got for Elegy is brand new; it doesn't exist anywhere else (other than names and maybe a few sketeches). Capi3101 (talk) 16:31, July 17, 2014 (UTC) **I see no problem with the notion of locking on torpedoes while cloaked; if that's something y'all want to do within your own gaming circle, go right ahead. That's really up to y'all's GM. Capi3101 (talk) 16:31, July 17, 2014 (UTC) **The notion of being able to build fighters aboard is interesting and I could see where it could lead to some stories in terms of getting proper supplies and such. Lexington and Shiraak from Armada are both intended to have the ability to manufacture items (mines, shipyards and fortresses) - that's what the Industrial Manipulator Modules were intended to do, and I don't see why you couldn't do something similar (i.e. use Manipulator modules as single berths in which one fighter at a time can be manufactured). A Repair Bay Module could also then be incorporated for underway modifications, which would function using the rules for craft modifications as listed towards the end of Chapter 6.3 of the Core Rules. Supply is your key issue with this kind of system - you either have to have a craft that can mine and process the materials it needs on its own (a time consuming process), or fairly regular visits from supply transports, both of which will be dependent on your campaign and a decision made by your GM. Capi3101 (talk) 16:31, July 17, 2014 (UTC) Just wanted to let you know that I heard back from Kevin Scholl this morning; I have his permission to use his craft from the Task Force 16 site. I don't know how to contact Rajan Ragupathy about his stuff from the CBG Valkyrie site (I'm prety sure - though assuming - that the email link is rotten). I have been in contact with a couple of the other former Aces administrators, though, so we'll see how much more from them we can put up. Just wanted to pass the word along. Capi3101 (talk) 13:49, July 30, 2014 (UTC) Awesome sounds completely awesome I tried to get a message to Rajan through facebook got no reply but thank you for the work you have done on these fighters. Doc Wade (talk) I may be wrong but I thought the Retaliator had 18 Missiles total not sure what this will do to the cost but I may be wrong have a good day. Doc Wade (talk) 16:29, August 19, 2014 (UTC) *I was a bit confused there myself - from the CBG Valkyrie website, it looks like it either had a loadout of twelve or eighteen, and in the eighteen-missile loadout the extra six missiles were just standard ImRecs. Assuming those are Image Recognition, Standard missiles, adding them to the load plus the cost of an extra +2 to the Modified Chassis and two more Triple Light Ordnance Hardpoints would raise the cost by 35.2 million credits by my calculations, to 418,577,750. I elected to not put them in the standard loadout because A) why have standard IRs when you've got the advanced ones available and B) it's a Border Worlds design and I hold to the notion that the Border Worlds is just a frontier power, and it would make the fighter prohibitively expensive for them to field. Prudence would say that I should make notes for a variant, so I'll just do that real quick. Feel free to use whichever version you choose. Capi3101 (talk) 18:15, August 20, 2014 (UTC) Doc Wade (talk) 22:55, January 3, 2016 (UTC) capi just wondeeing what dimensions you used forbthe arcadia carriers all my reading suggest she is slightly bigger than a yorktown class which is SC 24 just wondering *I'll have to go back through my notes to check to see if I still have anything on the size conversion; we are talking about stuff I was working on 16 months ago. All the images I have of the Arcadia are two dimensional, though, so I probably had to use some kind of proportionality constant or a mass-to-volume conversion to come up with the craft's final set of dimensions. If I can't find it in my notes, I'll try my usual set of conversions to see which one was applied in this case. I'll have to get back to you later. Capi3101 (talk) 16:20, January 4, 2016 (UTC) *Okay...I've reviewed what I did back then. I did indeed use a conversion to come up with a final volume for the craft, in this case my early mass-to-volume conversion factor of 34.447 m3 per metric tonne. The trouble with this conversion factor (as I later learned through refining the process for craft for which I didn't have access to images of all three dimensions) is that it generally comes up too small, and that's born out if you use a direct pixel-to-meter conversion and go with the listed length. From the Aces page, the top-down model is 517 pixels long and 97 wide, which given that the length corresponds to 850 meters, the ship is 159.48 meters across the beam. Those figures you can take to the bank. Problem is, given the converted volume and the method of calculating bounding box, the craft would only be 19.95 meters in draught; some fighters are taller than that. TL,DR here - the carrier is too small as listed, as no doubt you've figured out on your own. The refined calculation process would've taken into account an average value based on the length of the craft - a factor of 6 * (length / 3)3, which plugging in 850 meters gives a volume of 136,472,222.22 m3, and then averaging the two values gives 69,588,160.72 m3 as a final volume - somewhere in SC 24, a typical carrier size for WCRPG; draught there would be 513.35 m, so that's not a terribly realistic result. Another method would involve simply adjusting the original result by an order of magnitude up (to 27,040,992.08 m3 - in SC 23); draught would then be 199.48 m. A final possibility is to assume the craft's draught is the same as its beam (a reasonable assumption given the design of most Terran-ships in the WC universe); that gives a result of 21,618,789.84 m3, which is also in SC 23; of the given possibilities, that's probably the most realistic figure of the bunch, so that's the one I'd roll with. Based on that, I'd assume the ship would be SC 23, and therefore would need to change to a Very Light Dreadnought chassis. Nothing else would change, though you could keep the accommodations as is and shunt all the available remaining space directly to the hangars - eliminating the need for Hangar Bay Modules entirely. That opens up eleven accessory spots. Assuming those stay empty, the craft's new cost is ¤105,354,974,060, its new HD ratings are 51/48/63, and its hangar capacity becomes 306,875 m3, all coming from extra accommodation space. That would give you much more space to play around with adding additional craft for the ship's wing; I know that's something you've been asking about of late on the CIC forums. I'll consider making these changes to the craft permanent (which I can do, given that there aren't any hardcopies of this data floating about anywhere...). Capi3101 (talk) 18:16, January 4, 2016 (UTC) Thanks for taking a look Capi my brother was asking about the standard air wing which is where that all started from. I like what I have set up for them. Any suggestions from you would be appreciated.Doc Wade (talk) 20:47, February 26, 2016 (UTC) *No problem. If I can think of any suggestions, I'll be sure to pass them along. Meantime, feel free to ask more questions. Capi3101 (talk) 15:33, February 29, 2016 (UTC) Marauder contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. A versatile all-around craft, the Confederation's F-60A Marauder combined tried and true technologies with new innovations. An efficient powerplant, superior handling, and strong, versatile armament gave the fighter promise, but the introduction of a new generation of post-war fighters ended the Marauder's career early. Dauntless contributed by capi3101, based on a design originally by Rajan Ragupathy for the Wing Commander Aces Club The Union of Border Worlds is the smallest and weakest of the known factions. The Border Worlders are heavily outnumbered by the Kilrathi, and would be outnumbered even worse by the Nephilim. If they were to have any chance of winning major fleet battles, they needed a way of inflicting as much damage as possible on the enemy fleets. This was what lead to the development of the Dauntless heavy bomber. The Dauntless is, to put it simply, a ship captain's worst nightmare. These giant bombers carry twelve lethal ship killer torpedoes, and just as importantly, can fire all those torpedoes in one devastating attack run. This means that a single Dauntless can tear apart the largest super carrier, battleship or space station. A full squadron of these bombers can turn a fleet to gutted hulks in a matter of minutes. The Dauntless also carries very heavy armour and shielding. In fact, the Dauntless has heavier defenses than the typical corvette. Their hulls are also extremely rugged, and they can keep flying even after heavy damage. This allows the bombers to survive the deadly flak from enemy capships. The Dauntless also carries twin particle cannon turrets to ward off enemy fighters, along with ample missile decoys. However, the bombers do need heavy fighter escort to survive their bombing runs. Their low speed and agility makes them poor dogfighters, and they have no anti-fighter weapons apart from their turrets. Each bomber would ideally be escorted by one light or medium fighter, with another squadron of fighters flying cover. This would make make it almost impossible for enemy fighters to stop the bombing run. Arcadia contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. The first ships in the Border Worlds navies to be built from the keel up as carriers, the BWS Arcadia and her four sisters help form the backbone of the factions' fleets. Though only marginally larger than a Confed light carrier, the ships are incredibly efficient in construction and operation. Heavy with close-in defensive systems, the carriers require cruiser and destroyer escort for long-range and anti-capship situations. Lynx contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. In looking for a replacement for the aging Banshee light fighter, the Union continues its trend of utilizing equipment long thought uselessly outdated, to produce a high performance fighter. Mostly engines with a cockpit strapped between, the Lynx is fast and agile (owing to its thrust vectored exhausts), and closely grouped weapons maximize damage potential. Currently in the midst of a long testing cycle, the Lynx could well become the light fighter of the future for the Border Worlds. Jaguar contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club The first dedicated pure heavy fighter in the Union of Border Worlds' arsenal, the Jaguar combines solid defensive capabilities with a powerful offensive platform. Though the Jaguar is unspectacular in any one particular performance category, its overall versatility and balance of offense power with ample defenses make it a force on par with standard frontline heavy fighters of more financially-equipped factions. The basic airframe is quite flexible, and adaptable to a variety of subtypes. In particular, development of a dedicated Electronic Warfare platform led to the EF-95C Stalker. Retaliator contributed by capi3101, based on a design originally by Rajan Ragupathy for the Wing Commander Aces Club The Retaliator is the Union's newest and deadliest fighter. It was created in the years following the Black Lance Incident and was originally based on the F-107 Dragons captured by the Border Worlders. The Retaliator is designed to dominate any battlefield by killing enemy fighters with extreme prejudice. While it isn't as powerful as Confed's F-109 Vampire, it's nevertheless very good at its job. Like most superiority fighters, the Retaliator is fast and agile, with heavy shielding and ample missile decoys. However, its biggest asset is its devastating firepower; it packs a total of eight powerful cannons, plus a massive loadout of short, medium and long range missiles. This firepower is enhanced by an excellent avionics suite, including a powerful fire-control radar, anti-cloak sensors, and a deadly accurate autotracking system for the guns. These features make the Retaliator a deadly opponent, both in long range missile duels and close quarters dogfighting. When engaging large groups of enemy fighters, Retaliator pilots normally open fire at 15,000-20,000 klicks, wiping out as many fighters as possible with LRIR and FoF missiles. They then close in and rip into the survivors with their guns and short range missiles. Very few Kilrathi or Nephilim fighters can last very long against such a sustained assault. In fact, the unofficial nickname for this fighter is the "Widowmaker". However, the Retaliator does have one major weakness: cost. The Border Worlders can only afford to build it in very small numbers, probably only one squadron per Arcadia-class carrier. Also, the only way they could afford the fighter at all was by deleting any expensive extras like cloaks, jump drives, and M/AM drives. This makes the Retaliator less versatile than most superiority fighters. Intruder contributed by capi3101, based on design originally by Rajan Ragupathy for the Wing Commander Aces Club. The F/A-43 Intruder is the UBW's new medium fighter, replacing older designs such as the Hellcat and Vindicator. The Intruder performs much better in both space and atmosphere than the older designs and it has the additional advantage of being jump capable. It is also cheap and easy to build, making it an ideal baseline fighter for the Border Worlds Navy. It is a typical "jack-of-all-trades medium fighter"; it isn't specialized for any one role, but it can perform most jobs reasonably well. It has good speed and agility, moderately strong shielding and a powerful weapons loadout. The fighter's missile bays can also carry a wide variety of air to ground weapons, including high explosive, armor-piercing and cluster bombs. Intruders have very good targeting sensors, allowing them to carry out precision attacks. This makes them very effective at supporting Border Worlds ground forces. The missile bays can also carry HARM missiles for SEAD or bomber escort missions. Stalker contributed by capi3101, based on a design originally by Rajan Ragupathy for the Wing Commander Aces Club The Union of Border Worlds is the only faction that utilizes a craft dedicated solely to electronic warfare. Border Worlds strategists realized years ago that a faction so badly outnumbered by its neighbors can't afford to fight a conventional war of attrition; instead they needed to inflict maximum damage on the enemy forces while still keeping their own forces intact. One result of this thinking was the Dauntless bomber. Another is the Stalker, which is designed to cripple (or destroy if possible) an opponent's ability to fight effectively. Each Stalker carries powerful jamming pods that can scramble enemy scanners and tracking systems, effectively blinding enemy fighters and ground forces. This in turn gives Border Worlds fighter or bomber pilots a much better chance of destroying their targets while taking fewer casualties in the process. When dealing with capital ships, the Stalker has an even more effective weapon - the Blinder missile. This high speed warhead can punch through a capital ship's phase shields, then flood the ship's scanners with "noise", rendering them useless. A single Blinder missile can disable most capships, which means that a Stalker can cripple up to four capships during a single mission. The 'blinded' capships can then easily be destroyed by Border Worlds bombers. The Stalker is very lightly armed. Its only defensive weapon is a single Stormfire cannon, as it simply isn't designed to take on enemy fighters. Instead, it relies on its speed, stealth and jamming capabilities to avoid detection. Stalkers are usually escorted by flights of light fighters. Nemesis contributed by capi3101, based on design originally by Rajan Ragupathy for the Wing Commander Aces Club. BWS Nemesis is the first of the Border Worlds Navy's new line of raider battlecruisers. She is fast, well-shielded, stealthy and above all armed to the teeth, making her a match for any enemy cruiser, battlecruiser or pocket battleship. She is a dedicated capship killer; her heavy plasma guns are boosted for extra range and faster re-fire rates, making them equal in hitting power to anti-matter guns. This gives Nemesis the equivalent of sixteen AMGs, a massive level of firepower for a ship of her size. Not only that, she mounts four triple anti-ship torpedo launchers, making her truly lethal in a capship duel. Nemesis also carries four Stalker EW craft for 'blinding' her opponents along with four Intruder fighters for CAP and point defense. While Nemesis normally operates as part of a battle group, she can also break off and act as a solo raider. She can easily slip through enemy lines, search out and destroy strategic targets such as convoys, supply depots and re-fuelling stations. Her firepower allows her to quickly destroy any targets she attacks and escape before enemy reinforcements arrive. Magellan contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club Originally envisioned as AA and fleet picket vessels, Magellan-class frigates never enjoyed popular use in the Confederation Navy. A lack of armor and no appreciable energy weapons led to the belief that they simply could not hold their own in a heavy firefight. Indeed, ships of the Magellan-class are in no way anti-capship vessels, with their only heavy offensive weapons being three fixed torpedo mounts (two forward and one aft). However, occasionally one does show up in its original intended role; such is the case with TCS John Cabot, where a recent update has led to the automation of several systems and improved target tracking capabilities. Together with the established DSSS systems, these upgrades have placed Cabot among the most capable detection platforms currently serving in ConFleet. Five missile launcher mounts, each capable of holding at any one time 8 missiles of various types, are able to provide a significant long-range AA defense while eight Stormfire Close-In Weapons System (CIWS) turrets offer protection from torpedo and missile attacks and allow Cabot to engage fighters and bombers within 5000 klicks. Antietam contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. The five vessels of the Antietam-class were developed in an effort to field a powerful carrier capable of defending itself from capital ship attack. The ships were heavily armed and armored with a superior layout for flight operations, but due to operating costs enjoyed only a short term in active service. Aurora contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. Fast and heavily armed, the Aurora-class of missile cruisers would have formed the core of defensive systems for Confederation task groups. With the war against the Kilrathi drawing to a close, however, the class was cancelled as part of the military cutbacks, with four hulls only partially complete at the time of their cancellation. Defiance contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. Intended as replacements for the aging Sheffield-class of destroyers in the Confederation Navy, Defiance-class vessels are optimized for anti-capship combat. Lightly armored but possessing high speed, the ships are very stable weapons platforms. A few remain in reserve service today. DeLong contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. A long-range supplement to the SAR-23 Condor, DeLong-class vessels are specialized for assisting Confederation reconnaisance and patrol flights. Able to handle the simultaneous refueling and reloading of four fighters or two bomber craft, these lightly armored craft have light missile and gun defenses. Goshawk contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. As a cheaper alternative to the Osprey, the Goshawk is the submission from Soboyan-Yakovlev Manufacturing for a standard frontline heavy fighter for the Andorran Republic. Though ultimately losing out to the Jaeger, the design was impressive enough to lead to two squadrons being outfitted with the fighter in an advanced testing / special ops role. The Goshawk should be considered an offensively-oriented design in that it possesses above average armament, while its defenses are comparably meager. Variable geometry engine exhausts provide for high pitch and roll rates. It has the ability to carry a single torpedo in a light strike role. Gyrfalcon contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. The goal behind the design of the Gyrfalcon interceptor was to produce a fast, heavily armed fighter intended to get to the target force quickly, use enhanced targeting systems to engage with an overwhelming missile spread and then break off, leaving any remaining targets to point defense fighters. A pure interceptor, the Gyrfalcon's cost is kept down by eliminating cloaking mechanisms and jump drives. Minimal armor enables the fighter its superior performance characteristics. Strong tracking and targeting systems allow the Gyrfalcon to avoid most fighter escorts by attacking from a distance, and therefore solid weapons - including the new Talon missile - form the heart of its offensive systems. Iir'tahk contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. Originally designed as a replacement for both the Dralthi-IV Medium Fighter and Vaktoth Heavy Fighter, the Iir'tahk was in the latter stages of developmental testing when the War ended. The loss of technical records for the design and the destruction of the orbital shipyards around Kilrah when the planet was destroyed limited the number of craft produced. Despite its promising flight attributes and better than average war-load, the small number of Iir'tahk enjoyed a very brief operational tenure with the Empire. A few remain in use by independent privateers and unaligned pirates. Manta contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. A joint effort between Confederation and Kilrathi engineers, the F-58 Manta began as a replacement craft for the F-42 Hellcat-V. Extremely agile and fast, the Manta could hold its own against fighters of all sizes. It's small stature led to a brief deployment aboard escort carriers, but it was rapidly replaced with more capable designs after only a few years. Mraktahn contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. The Mraktahn was unusual for a Kilrathi fighter in that it featured heavy defensive measures while showing great potential in the offensive realm. All of the craft's weapons were carried internally and flight performance was quite respectable. However, poor pilot visibility and depleted resources led to only a few ever entering service. Naktorhn contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. Developed primarily as an anti-fighter and bomber vessel, the Naktorhn-class featured multiple small missile launchers as a main battery. Limited anti-capship weapons and slow speed make the ships less than ideal for travel within battle groups. Repleetah contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. Heavily armed, speedy, and agile, the Repleetah-class of cruisers were the most versatile defense platform of their day. A tightly integrated sensor and targeting system could oppose enemies of all sizes and capabilities. The ships have largely been replaced in active service by the new Plunkett-class artillery cruisers. Skate contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. Despite a short frontline service record, the F-91A Skate's superb handling and performance have proven effective in the reserves as a reconnaisance craft. Small auxilliary engine nozzles in the wingtips provide excellent pitch and roll rates, though its armament is particularly light. Tcaklar contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. Developed as a replacement for the aging Strakha stealth fighter, the Tcaklar was intended primarily for use as a scout and quick strike vessel. Typical of Kilrathi light fighters, the Tcaklar was fast and agile but suffered from a low shield rating and insufficient armor. Valkyrie contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. A dual-role craft, Valkyrie-class vessels could act both as armed scouts for a fleet or as merchant raiders. Balanced systems and performance put the ships in good stead and they enjoyed a long service tenure in Confleet, only recently having been phased out. Viper contributed by capi3101, based on a design by Kevin "Phoenix" Scholl for the Wing Commander Aces Club. Unique for its time in that it was developed for a very specialized role, the F/A-55A Viper incorporated rotating gun pods for enhanced strafing and engines buried in the wings to decrease its heat signature. Its service time was brief but the Viper could be considered a precursor to the current crop of specialized fighters. The F-55C, An "enhanced space capabilities" version of the craft, was later developed drawing on the original Viper frame while adding significant combat capabilities. The F/A-55C Viper was ideal as a convoy escort, utilizing her advanced detection systems and heavy firepower. No Vipers remain in service today.